Blondin The Hero Of Niagara

By day and by night, frontward and back, his feet in baskets, his head in a sack, he crossed the torrent on a cable—190 feet up

Meanwhile, at Niagara itself, Blondin had a number of imitators over the years, but though several of them performed feats of equal skill, it was Blondin who remained the hero of Niagara, and no one ever took his place in the public’s affection. Songs were written about him, and years afterward, on the long verandas facing the gorge, people who as children had witnessed his exploits still talked about the daring Frenchman with the blue eyes and the wavy blond hair who had made them gasp and look away and look again as he performed his incredible antics, supremely indifferent to the grisly death that was only a slight misstep away.